2014 DRAFT DAY PRIMER

When: The 2014 draft will be held May 8-10. The first round will be hled the evening of Thursday, May 8th starting at 8PM ET, with the second and third rounds sceduled for the 9th (6 PM ET) and rounds 4-7 on the 10th (Noon ET).

Where: Radio City Music Hall, New York City

Television coverage: NFL Network and ESPN


The picks: The draft order in the first round is determined as follows: 1) the Super Bowl champion has the last regular pick in each round, while the Super Bowl loser has the second last regular pick in each round; 2) non-playoff teams have the first 20 picks and are grouped according to won-lost record while non-playoff teams in the same W-L group draft in reverse order of their opponents' combined W-L %; 4) playoffs teams are grouped according to when they are eliminated with the four teams that lose in the wild-card round of the playoffs seeded in positions 21-24; teams losing in the divisional round are seeded 25 to 28; conference title game losers will receive the 29th and 30th picks.

Where two teams with the same records and their combined opponents have the same winning percentage, divisional or conference tie-breakers arer applied whenever applicable. Any ties that still exist are broken by a coin flip. In subsequent rounds, the team with the highest pick in the previous round in each won-lost grouping drops to the bottom of that group, while all other teams move up one place.

Compensatory picks are awarded based on a formula the primary factor of which is a team's NET losses of unrestricted free agency the previous year. These picks are added on at the end of the assigned round. As part of the CBA there must be a minimum of 255 players picked at each draft. If the total number of regular plus compensatory picks is less than 255 additional compensatory picks will be awarded to the teams with the highest picks in the first round starting with the team with the very first selection until the 255 number is reached. Assignment of comp picks usually is announced a few weeks before the draft.

Teams have 10 minutes to make their picks in the first round; 7 in the second; and 5 in subsequent rounds. A team going over the time limit may make their pick at any time after the clock runs out, but the team(s) with the succeeding pick(s) may make their picks as their turn indicates.

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